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But the Germantown resident says the pain — ‘‘like a thousand bee stings” — is a small price to prove his devotion — or borderline obsession — to a football team so ingrained in his friendships and memories.

McCarthy, 35, stepped into Gus’s Tattoo Parlor in Frederick at 11 a.m. and wouldn’t step out until six hours later when the finishing touches on a tattoo that spans his entire back would be complete.

‘‘If you know Kevin, it doesn’t surprise you,” explained a friend of 20 years, Shawn Rooney, of Frederick. ‘‘You look to other things to cheer you up. For Kevin, it’s always been the Redskins. It’s a bad week if the Redskins lost.”

On April 28, McCarthy was at FedEx Field for a draft party hosted by the Redskins. It was there that Coach Joe Gibbs spotted McCarthy – although the back tattoo wasn’t yet complete — and pulled him on stage.

Later, fans asked him for his autograph, McCarthy said.

This is not the first time McCarthy has done something that some may describe as over-the-top. In November, he was first in line to buy the PlayStation 3 at the Best Buy in Germantown. He waited four days outside. Without a tent. In the rain and wind.

Tattoos have become more mainstream in the United States. In 2004, nearly 25 percent of people between 18-50 had tattoos, according to a study released by Northwestern University in June 2006.

McCarthy got his first tattoos — his zodiac sign, the Scorpion, and his birth date — in 1998. Four years later, he decided on a Washington Redskins theme for his right arm. The band of Super Bowl trophies — three of which have years on them indicating the championships the team won — came in 2005. It was followed this year by tattooed signatures of the most-valuable players from each Super Bowl team, and the list of the 20 Hall of Famers on his back.

Altogether: 15.5 hours of tattooing, $2,500 and one understanding wife.

‘‘Some guys get one because it’s cool, it’s fashion,” said longtime tattoo artist Nelson Carter, who is called Kevin. ‘‘But this guy is real. This guy has gone way beyond a tattoo. Getting a tattoo is the heaviest I’ve ever seen. It’s there. It’s on your body. You’re living it.”

If McCarthy has his way, it would be all Redskins all the time.

‘‘I love it,” said McCarthy, who played right tackle at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg. ‘‘God did not bless me with a talent, but he blessed me with the ability to support the team.”

And his dad, who was born and raised in Washington, taught him which team to support. As a child, McCarthy would sit on his father’s knee and watch the games on television.

‘‘So, it’s because of him that I love football so much,” McCarthy said.

Fast-forward a few decades. McCarthy and his wife, Roseanne, bought season tickets two years ago.

The McCarthys go all out for away games. The 50-inch high-definition television is tuned to the game. Pizza, wings, Chinese food and, for health’s sake, a veggie platter reign supreme, he said.

But McCarthy’s clearly not just an in-season football fan. For him, it’s year-round devotion.

His closet includes more than just the Redskins-themed socks, sneakers, shorts, boxers and T-shirt that he wore on Friday.

Maroon and gold dominates his wardrobe. He has denim jeans airbrushed with ‘‘Washington” on the right leg and ‘‘Redskins” on the left.

‘‘I would literally wear it every day if I could,” McCarthy said.

And now he does. Every day. On his back.